A Swovenian Easter breakfast wif ham and nut roww is eaten before going to an Easter church service. The Easter wiwy, a symbow of de resurrection of Christ,[2] as weww as red-cowoured Easter eggs, symbowizing de"bwood of Christ" shed for de sins of de worwd, awso sit on de tabwe.[1]

Eastertide is de period of 50 days, spanning from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.[11] It is cewebrated as a singwe joyfuw feast, cawwed de "great Lord's Day".[12] Each Sunday of de season is treated as a Sunday of Easter. In some traditions, Easter Sunday is de first Sunday of Eastertide and de fowwowing Sunday (Low Sunday) is de second Sunday of Eastertide and so on;[13] in oder traditions, fowwowing de Sunday of de Resurrection, dey are named Second Sunday of Easter, Third Sunday of Easter, etc. up to de Sevenf Sunday of Easter, concwuding wif Pentecost Sunday.[14]

Easter Sunday and Pentecost correspond to pre-existing Jewish feasts: The first day of Pesach (פסח) and de howiday of Shavu'ot (שבועות). In de Jewish tradition, de 49 days between dese howidays are known as Counting of de Omer (ספירת העומר)‎.[15]

Since 2000, de Second Sunday of Easter is awso cawwed Divine Mercy Sunday. The name "Low Sunday" for dis Sunday, once common in Engwish, is now used mainwy in de Church of Engwand.

The sowemnity of de Ascension of de Lord is cewebrated on de 40f day of Eastertide (a Thursday), except in countries where it is not a Howy Day of Obwigation. In such countries it is cewebrated on de fowwowing Sunday (de 43rd day of Eastertide).[17] The nine days from dat feast untiw de Saturday before Pentecost (incwusive) are days of preparation for de Howy Spirit de Paracwete,[18] which inspired de form of prayer cawwed a novena.

Before de 1969 revision of de cawendar, de Sundays were cawwed First Sunday after Easter, Second Sunday after Easter, etc. The Sunday preceding de feast of de Ascension of de Lord was sometimes, awdough not officiawwy, cawwed Rogation Sunday, and when de Ascension had an octave, de fowwowing Sunday was cawwed Sunday widin de Octave of de Ascension, uh-hah-hah-hah.[19] When dis octave was abowished in 1955, it was cawwed Sunday after de Ascension, uh-hah-hah-hah.[20] Pentecost was fowwowed by an octave, which some reckoned as part of Eastertide.

When de Angwican and Luderan churches impwemented deir own cawendar and wectionary reforms in 1976, dey adopted de same shortened definition of de Easter season as de Roman Cadowic Church had promuwgated six years earwier. In de Church of Engwand, de Easter season begins wif de Easter Vigiw and ends after Evening Prayer (or Night Prayer) on de Day of Pentecost. Some Angwican provinces continue to wabew de Sundays between Easter and de Ascension "Sundays After Easter" rader dan "Sundays of Easter"; oders, such as de Church of Engwand and ECUSA, use de term "Sundays of Easter".

Paschaw Tide is a season of joy. The cowour for de Office de tempore is white; de Te Deum and Gworia are recited every day even in de feriaw Office. On Sundays de "Asperges" is repwaced by de "Vidi Aqwam" which recawws de sowemn baptism of Easter eve. There is no feast day from Easter untiw Ascension, uh-hah-hah-hah. The Armenians during dis period do away even wif de abstinence on Fridays. Prayers are said standing, not kneewing. Instead of de "Angewus" de "Regina Caewi" is recited. From Easter to Ascension many churches, about de tenf century, said onwy one Nocturn at Matins; even some particuwar churches in de city of Rome adopted dis custom from de Teutons (Bäumer, "Gesch. des Breviers", 312). Pope Gregory VII wimited dis priviwege to de week of Easter and of Pentecost. Some dioceses in Germany however, retained it far into de nineteenf century for 40 days after Easter. In every Nocturn de dree psawms are said under one antiphon. The Awwewuia appears as an independent antiphon; an Awwewuia is awso added to aww de antiphons, responsories and versicwes, except to de versicwes of de preces at Prime and Compwine. Instead of de "suffragia sanctorum" in de semidoubwe and feriaw Offices, a commemoration of de Howy Cross is used. The iambic hymns have a speciaw Easter doxowogy.

The feasts of de howy Apostwes and martyrs have deir own commune from Easter to Pentecost. At Mass de Awwewuia is added to de Introit, Offertory and Communion; in pwace of de Graduaw two Awwewuias are sung fowwowed by two verses, each wif an Awwewuia; dere is awso a speciaw Preface for Paschaw Time.

Paschaw Tide was de period during which every member of de faidfuw who has attained de year of discretion was bound by de positive waw of de Church to receive Howy Communion (Easter duty). During de earwy Middwe Ages from de time of de Synod of Agde (508), it was customary to receive Howy Communion at weast dree times a year—Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. A positive precept was issued by de Fourf Lateran Counciw (1215) and confirmed by de Counciw of Trent (Sess. XIII, can, uh-hah-hah-hah. ix). According to dese decrees de faidfuw of eider sex, after coming to de age of discretion, must receive at weast at Easter de Sacrament of de Eucharist (unwess by de advice of de parish priest dey abstain for a whiwe). Oderwise during wife dey are to be prevented from entering de church and when dead are to be denied Christian buriaw. The paschaw precept is to be fuwfiwwed in one's parish church.

Awdough de precept of de Fourf Lateran to confess to de parish priest feww into disuse and permission was given to confess anywhere, de precept of receiving Easter Communion in de parish church was stiww in force where dere are canonicawwy-erected parishes.

The term Paschaw Tide was usuawwy interpreted to mean de two weeks between Pawm and Low Sundays (Synod of Avignon, 1337); by St. Antonine of Fworence it was restricted to Easter Sunday, Monday and Tuesday; by Angewo da Chiavasso it was defined as de period from Maundy Thursday to Low Sunday. Eugene IV, 8 Juwy 1440, audoritativewy interpreted it to mean de two weeks between Pawm and Low Sundays.[21]

In water centuries de time has been variouswy extended: at Napwes from Pawm Sunday to Ascension; at Pawermo from Ash Wednesday to Low Sunday. In Germany, at an earwy date, de second Sunday after Easter terminated Paschaw Tide, for which reason it was cawwed "Predigerkirchweih", because de hard Easter wabour was over, or "Buch Sunday", de obstinate sinners putting off de fuwfiwwment of de precept to de wast day. In de United States upon petition of de Faders of de First Provinciaw Counciw of Bawtimore Paschaw Tide was extended by Pius VIII to de period from de first Sunday in Lent to Trinity Sunday (II Pwen, uh-hah-hah-hah. Coun, uh-hah-hah-hah. Bawt., n, uh-hah-hah-hah. 257); in Canada de duration of de Paschaw Tide is de same as in de United States. In Engwand it wasts from Ash Wednesday untiw Low Sunday; in Irewand from Ash Wednesday untiw de octave of SS. Peter and Pauw, 6 Juwy.[22]

The second is de Feast of Mercy[23][24], awso known as "Dominica in awbis", or Low Sunday. In de Dioceses of Portugaw and Braziw (awso in de eccwesiasticaw province of St. Louis, Mo.) on de Monday after Low Sunday is cewebrated de feast of de Joys or Exuwtation of Mary at de Resurrection of her Son (doubwe of de second cwass). The Russians, on Tuesday of dis week, cewebrating Radonitsa, go in procession to de cemeteries and pwace Easter eggs on de graves[25]

In de Latin Church de dird Sunday is cawwed from its Gospew de Sunday of de Good Shepherd and from de Introit "Misericordias Domini"; in many dioceses (Seviwwe, awso wif de order of de Capuchins) it is cawwed de feast of Our Lady Moder of de Good Shepherd (doubwe second cwass); at Jerusawem and in de churches of de Franciscans it is cawwed de feast of de Howy Sepuwchre of Christ; in de Greek Church it is cawwed ion myrophoron (Sunday of de women who brought ointments to de sepuwchre of Christ); de Armenians cewebrate on dis Sunday de dedication of de first Christian church on Mount Sion, uh-hah-hah-hah.

The fourf Sunday of Eastertide is cawwed from de Introit "Jubiwate";[26] de Latin Church has assigned to it de feast of de Patronage of St. Joseph (doubwe second cwass); de Greeks caww it de Sunday of de Parawytic, from its Gospew.

The Orientaw Churches on Wednesday after de dird Sunday cewebrate wif a very sowemn Office and an octave, de Mesopentekoste, de compwetion of de first hawf of Paschaw Tide; it is de feast of de manifestation of de Messiah, de victory of Christ and de Church over Judaism ["Zeitschrift für kadowische Theowogie" (1895), 169-177]; de Swav nations in dis day have a sowemn procession and benediction of deir rivers.[27]
The fiff Sunday is cawwed Cantate Sunday;[28] by de Orientaws it is cawwed Sunday of de Samaritan Woman, uh-hah-hah-hah.

The sixf Sunday, "Vocem jucunditatis" in de Orient, Sunday of de Man Born Bwind. In de Latin Church fowwow de Rogation Days; in de Greek Church on Tuesday is kept de apodosis or concwusion of de feast of Easter. The Greeks sing de Canons of Easter up to dis Tuesday in de same manner as during Easter Week, whiwst in de Latin Church de specific Easter Office terminates on Saturday fowwowing de feast. Thursday is de feast of de Ascension, uh-hah-hah-hah. The Friday of dis week, in Germany, is cawwed "Witterfreitag"; de fiewds are bwessed against frost and dunderstorms.

Sunday widin de octave of Ascension is cawwed "Exaudi" from de Introit; in some dioceses it is cawwed Feast of Our Lady, Queen of de Apostwes (doubwe major) or of de Cenacwe (Charweston and Savannah, first cwass); in Rome it was cawwed Sunday of de Roses ("Pascha rosarum" or "rosatum"), since in de Pandeon rose-weaves were drown from de rotunda into de church; in de Greek and Russian Churches it is de feast of de 318 Faders of de first Nicene Counciw; de Armenians caww it de "second feast of de fwowers", a repetition of Pawm Sunday. By owder witurgists de week before Pentecost is cawwed "Hebdomada expectationis", week of de expectation of de Howy Ghost. On de Vigiw of Pentecost de baptismaw water is bwessed in de Latin Church; in de Orientaw Churches it dis Saturday is de psychosabbaton (Aww Souw's Day); on dis day de Greeks bwess wheat cakes and have processions to de cemeteries.

^ abcAnne Jordan (5 Apriw 2000). Christianity. Newson Thornes. Easter eggs are used as a Christian symbow to represent de empty tomb. The outside of de egg wooks dead but inside dere is new wife, which is going to break out. The Easter egg is a reminder dat Jesus wiww rise from His tomb and bring new wife. Ordodox Christians dye boiwed eggs red to make red Easter eggs dat represent de bwood of Christ shed for de sins of de worwd.

^The Guardian, Vowume 29. H. Harbaugh. 1878. Just so, on dat first Easter morning, Jesus came to wife and wawked out of de tomb, and weft it, as it were, an empty sheww. Just so, too, when de Christian dies, de body is weft in de grave, an empty sheww, but de souw takes wings and fwies away to be wif God. Thus you see dat dough an egg seems to be as dead as a sone, yet it reawwy has wife in it; and awso it is wike Christ's dead body, which was raised to wife again, uh-hah-hah-hah. This is de reason we use eggs on Easter. (In owden times dey used to cowor de eggs red, so as to show de kind of deaf by which Christ died,-a bwoody deaf.)

^Gordon Geddes, Jane Griffids (22 January 2002). Christian bewief and practice. Heinemann. ISBN9780435306915. Red eggs are given to Ordodox Christians after de Easter Liturgy. They crack deir eggs against each oder's. The cracking of de eggs symbowizes a wish to break away from de bonds of sin and misery and enter de new wife issuing from Christ's resurrection, uh-hah-hah-hah.

^Vicki K. Bwack (1 Juwy 2004). The Church Standard, Vowume 74. Church Pubwishing, Inc. ISBN9780819225757. In parts of Europe, de eggs were dyed red and were den cracked togeder when peopwe exchanged Easter greetings. Many congregations today continue to have Easter egg hunts for de chiwdren after de services on Easter Day.

^"Fiff Sunday of Easter". Saint Augustine's House Luderan Monastery. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2019. Fiff Sunday of Easter – “Cantate Sunday” – Sing to de Lord a new song, awwewuia; for de Lord has accompwished wondrous deeds, awwewuia; he has reveawed his justice in de sight of de Gentiwes, awwewuia, awwewuia. Ps. His right hand and his howy arm have given him victory. ~Introit